Carolinahopper

Ok I own a 98 with 200k miles on it. Drive it every day every were. Noticed that I'm getting a really bad oil smell through the a/c. So I took it to the dealer. They checked it out said it was leaking oil. So we put some die in I drove it for a week and took it back yesterday. They come back with a list of problems. Oil pan upper and lower gasket, rear main, oil cooler gasket, and harmonic, all leaking. They said it needs in entire overhaul but with 200k on engine. They would rather put in a new engine for 10k plus install. Yeah right. I know I have a lot of miles but I'm pushing well over 550 hp and don't want to lose my mods. So my Q is how hard is it to replace oil pan gasket and oil cooler gasket? Do I have to remove entire drive train or can I do it with engine still in car, and is this a job that can be done in a few hours or a few days? Please help!

tak06

I had the upper pan gasket replaced during a clutch replacement on my '02Z at Mr. Goodwrench. There is no cross over labor from the clutch replacement so they quoted me a price of $800.00!! Involved front suspension labor and raising the engine slightly, got them down to $700.00, included the lower pan gasket replacement also. Good luck!

sfc rick

I replaced my front crankshaft seal myself, even that job requires pulling the steering rack and harmonic balancer replacement. A lot of labor to R&R a crappy cardboard seal, but necessary.

Sounds like you are at a place in your ownership where you need to decide which fork in the road you should take. On one hand, you have a high mileage ride with serious leakage issues that is gonna cost a small fortune in labor, and on the other hand if you are doing that repair work, why not opt to restore your engine for many more years of enjoyment?

Tuff call.....

VGLNTE1

Get some tools, and start ripping it apart and fix it yourself. Of course the dealer wants you to spend 10K on a motor worth 1000. Hell my forged built 416 was half that cost. Never go to a dealer, ever. If you don't want to do it yourself, find an Indy shop

Paul 75 L82

Find a hot rod shop, go to a car show and ask those guys who they like.

tak06

I don't think you can make a negative blanket generalization about dealer ships, in my 40 plus years of Corvette ownership, I've used both and had good & bad experiences with independent shops & Dealerships. There`s this misconception that there is a cost advantage to independents, not so in all cases. I normally check a Dealership to see if they have a dedicated Corvette tech and locally in my area that`s the one I use. I`m sure RichieRich from Abel Chev who`s given me advise on CF wouldn`t agree with that statement either.

00Vette04GTO

Hate to say it, but your easiest way to change all those gaskets plus oil pan will be to remove the whole engine. As others said you could overhaul while it is out. (or at very least change ALL seals/gaskets)

If you dont want to pull it, then you will need to drop your kmember and/or raise the engine to give you the clearance to get to the upper oil pan. Alignment is critical so please read up on this or you will have to do it twice.

1sickz51vette

My car is apart for a clutch install and they said it would be an extra $500 for the oil pan as its 5 hours extra labor from this point!

Carolinahopper

Well I got it up on the lift looked at it dropped it and took it to a performance shop they had a used engine they built for 1500 and swaped it for 1500, 3000 dollars still have all my mods plus some back in business thanks for all y'all's imput.